Gazza

No school holidays for AquaMax pass holders? Too bad that the hottest part of the year is in school holidays. I vote for the $90 WnW pass.

No matter how many times I hear that complaint it always makes me laugh. TOT at DW lasts for 27 seconds (source; R-C park/ride DB), but for that you generally queue for longer than 15 minutes. Superman escape (going by a video I shot) lasts for 30 seconds on the high speed bit, so no matter what its still a longer ride since its got the special effects part at the start. Double standards IMO.

I was wondering the same thing too, they have spent 3 years organizing the ride, but how does the money they saved compare with what they could have made by having the ride open to visitors sooner and making a profit minus whatever extra it cost to go with a normal manufacturer?

Hmmm, didn't YOU read the article properly? We all know what slide is big and green..... Sounds suspiciously like that orange and red thing with the uphill bits. Hmm, what slides have lots of turns and 360s sounds like the ones that are over at Cyclone. Well the whirlpool is obviously refering to the big red and purple bowl, and we know from richos update that there is a water curtain at the end at the end. And of course we have seen a number of purple slide segments sitting around, which will naturally be pretty dark inside. I can confirm that these are the actual names, I guess they are original, but I think that "The Green Room" is far too out there, only people who know about surfing will get it, I think most people (like I did when i was told about it) will think about its meaning with regard to showbiz. I think the article has poorly described some of the rides though, the Rip's description and the Green Rooms description in paticular. They used the word "planned" in the past tense, meaning they have already been organized and are opening with the park.

<Bangs head against wall> Im going by that 60m figure stated, but you are roughly traveling at 0.209m/s or about 0.75km/h, that is FAR slower than even the tamest of kids rides, a lift, or even walking pace and would be barely noticeable, sorry but i just cant see the comparison. While i can see the sickness factor with things like the Swinger Zinger since it does go fairly fast and completes several revolutions throughout its cycle, this wheel will only take you around once and lacks that repetitive motion factor that tends to cause sickness. Also, i was just responding to the rather random comment about MW having a height limit, it just seems odd to bring it up and the first I have ever heard of it, what is even more odd is the fact what is one of the tallest rides in the world is just 5 minutes away, and both have people living nearby.

......Because spending the majority of the ride time navigating slowly through unlit themed areas wouldn't be the most boring thing ever. In other news, MW is doing a second Halloween night on the 1st of November (Wednesday) due to the huge demand. See the website.

How can a ferris wheel make you queasy? This is coming from somebody who supposedly rides SE repeatedly.....Height is not an excuse since you ride GD, and the speed of rotation is less than every other ride out there. And what on earth is this crap about MW having a height limit? They are putting in a 60m space shot remember.

That would be even worse, having a big bat shape painted on and obscuring your view. But nah, if they did have to do them i think the most logical thing to do would be to make it like a Heads Up Display with a set of crosshairs etc, sort of to give the impression of being in the cockpit of the Batwing.

The most logical thing to do would be to build and finish whatever new entry LW needed before starting on any new rides.

I vote that your post gets deleted, that would mean I would take it.... see im actually contributing to the discussion. Anyway, this is all looking awesome, LIMs on a waterslide is just crazy, just think of the applications, imagine having them on a drop to make it faster than gravity, or having a flat launch at the start like a traditional launched coaster, or perhaps they can do away with the start tower altogether and have an LIM lift hill. Its also going to be energy efficient since its not like they are pushing a heavy coaster train with 20 people on board, just a lightweight raft. Personally i think it would be cool if they just had upward facing water jets at the bottom, so it looks like you are being pushed uphill, when really its the LIMs doing the work. Im also intrigued about the way the boats will work, will it simply be bits of copper sewn in to the bottom of the rafts. I would imagine the water on the slide would keep them cool, you wouldnt exactly want them melting through the plastic or burning the riders sitting a few mm above them. Either that or we will just have to fill our boardies with handfulls of old 1c and 2c pieces since they are made of copper But the big question is, what will WWW do if WnW just goes and does a pair installation of a similar style of slide? As for the Octo racer, id love to ride the 2 inside lanes since they have a big curve to build up speed, but a tight one at the bottom, and were riding this head first too :eek: I dont like the translucent sections though, while they do push the blue ringed octopus theme (The start tower canopy is going to be a canvas dome with eyes on it) i think they will let too much light in. Its a bit dissapointing how so many of WWWs slides have gone for the translucent effect, i have always been a fan of the pitch black style of slides WnW has. Also, in your gallery Richo you said there is going to be a helix at the start of the toilet bowl, but its only going to be a tight U turn, it will be quite similar to the standard model on the proslide website.

What if he has to calculate gravitational potential energy?

Hi All, Im back for tonight, I had English this morning and it went pretty well so I felt like taking a break after basically studying all week. Anyway, I totally agree with Richo on this one. Were sort of seeing a mirror with SFMM here, charging more than Disney for an inferior product. The point he's making is that its blatant profiteering, as he has said DWs operating margins are quite high, it has nothing to do with the number of visitors or whatever you are saying. Its just bad value considering they have closed off an entire area of the park, and have only replaced it so far with a teacup ride (That wouldnt have cost more than 50k) and this december attraction that seems to be nothing special. I think DW has become a bit too comfortable in recent years with continued popularity and have basically thought people would just absorb whatever price rise they chucked out, but as you can see WVTP is on the attack and I think they are in for a nasty suprise if they stick with their current stratergies. See, this is what happens when you have a theme park run by a bank versus one that is run by an entertainment company. What? Just because you were wrong

Stop me if im wrong, but dont the B&Ms with magnetic brakes have the magnets on the track? Also, with the way to ground the current produced in the fins, could it be some sort of flexible metal spring (think like a bigger version of the one in a pen) that would brush along the track in some inconspicous spot.

I thought i did a big post on how failsafe magnetic brakes work, anyway, here it is again, the reason they are fail safe is because they dont rely on an external power source, the only way they could fail is if they fell apart, but anyway for the second time....

I have posted this before, but i think they should do a Manns Chinese theatre to fit in with the Chinatown area it is in, you would sort of go through the lobby of the cinema past posters of old kung fu movies etc, with the switchback of the queue in the actual theatre (clips from kung fu movies would play on the screen), you would then go out a back door into an alley where the ride would be. As for the question regarding lethal weapon access, its called renovations.

Yes, I was going to post that, it always makes me laugh how people sort of think of Geelong as a suburb of Melbourne. i guess it would be sort of easy access for most of western and central melbourne, but for those in the east its a long drive around the bay, and for those down Mornington way, it means a ferry trip. But Geelong and the Surf Coast region already get enough tourists so it will be acessible easily to quite a few. As for me its a 3.5 hour drive. But I have been making that point for ages, yet was shot down saying Melbourne was too cold for anything to survive....I guess nobody realizes that it doesnt seem as cold to those who live here and would be the primary customers.

As far as I know it is still there, but wether they operate still is another story. They were ok sorts of slides, nothing special, they both basically started off with a couple of spirals before a "kinked" run to the pool with a few harsh drops chucked in. Good times.

Well, im sure that since it opens for 9 months they felt the price was fair, if it were a year round park the pass would most likely be more expensive. But really, who would want to be doing something outdoors in Geelong during winter, Brrrrr.

Good find! Waterparks really do seem to be the flavour of the month, i wonder how long it will be till the next one of our minor parks announce plans to do one. You have to wonder why it has taken so long for operators to cotton on to the fact that waterparks are fairly cheap, yet can pull huge numbers. Its good news though, the 2 existing tube slides have terrible capacity and the place is popular in summer. Might give me a reason to visit Geelong other than for Football. Now, as for the waterpark... The water play zone you can see is one model down from the one at WnW, but i think it is suitable for the size of the park. The lazy river looks nice too, pretty long. And, as for the racer, well we have our 5th one now, but i still dont think it is as good as the one at WWW (well, nothing could really beat that one) Its good we have another player in the waterpark game, its just another source of new attractions, and more competition can only be a good thing. But the similarites between this waterpark and Jamberoo are uncanny. There is a smallish kids area, and it is circumnavigated by a lazy river, and the lazy river goes under the racer, and the racer is on a hillside, and the park had 2 waterslides already... according to my calcuations in around 2 years time the park will have a wave pool, and in around 2009 the park will be announcing a 5 year plan to install Proslide attractions

Agreed, i was thinking they should move that little green stand alone shop that is on main street (i think it has ol fashioned coke signs on it, cant really remember though) Anyway, they should put that somewhere in the superman area, while at the same time adding new york style park benches and bins to sort of give it a feel that you are somewhere in central metropolis, so to one side you have a subway entrance, to the other that green newspaper stand and all around realistic street furniture.

Ha Ha, economics in action, thats what happens when a firm loses its monopoly over a market.

I remeber seeing a press release about the queue set up, but i think i deleted it. One thing im definitley glad of is the fact MW themes their rides without outside input, gah, imagine if some of the ideas some coaster nerds put out there actually got used....i mean, name one ugly MW ride, a bit hard eh.

The only thing i can see working at WnW is one of those vekoma suspended water coasters, its basically a sucessor to the Setpoint Swing thing (which seems to not be made anymore)

I think the real issue now is really the competition with themsleves. With WnW and MW surging ahead the GP could see SW as stagnating. It is by no means a bad park, its just that it needs to be doing something to avoid getting a reputation of being a boring park where nothing happens. Thought with SW, i think for them a better stratergy is to build more less often. While MW and WnW can move away from that stratergy (as they have been doing latley to build up capacity) i dont think it would work for SW. Animal exhibits are expensive, and its far better to do one every few years and end up with something like Shark Bay or Polar Bear Shores, than it would to build one every year or so and end up with with something horrible.

Welcome to R-C Good idea about using the existing railings for both rides, but as you said some good signage could eliminate any confusion. Its a nice spot to queue too with all the trees. But, i still do think SE should be themed more on the outside, its sort of conflicting to have the inside of the ride themed and convincing, but the outside just some white sheds, especially since the rest of the park is so niceley done.